“Pretty straight fastball. Not a great slider. Real good command. Man, he’d better come up with a little bit more stuff.”

In those first days, Mariano Rivera didn’t blow people away with this stuff.

“Pretty straight fastball,” Andy Pettitte recalled. “Not a great slider. Real good command. It was like, `Man, he’d better come up with a little bit more stuff to be able to start in this league.’ And then a year later they throw him in the bullpen. Just to see that smooth delivery and see how deceptive he was and how he hides the ball.

” It was just amazing in one year to see the transformation, how he could dominate. And then from there the cutter and continuing to get better. You never would have thought in 1995 that he would be able to do what he has done. He has been very blessed. He’s so disciplined. The consistency he brings to the ballpark every day. The mental makeup that he has. It’s been incredible to see.”